Special - US Empire: Case Studies in Latin America

Broadcast Times
Wednesday, June 21 8:00 PM
Wednesday, June 21 11:00 PM
Thursday, June 22 2:00 AM
Thursday, June 22 5:00 AM

US Empire: Case Studies in Latin America (Four Hour Special)
In four hours of special programming, Link TV will take its viewers to Panama, Colombia and Venezuela to examine the rising tide of Anti-American sentiment and the region’s most vocal and visible symbol: Hugo Chavez.

PART 1 (First Two Hours)
Produced by the Empowerment Group, The Panama Deception, includes never before seen footage of the invasion of Panama and its aftermath, network news clips and interviews. Hosted by Link TV correspondent, independent journalist and author Mark Hertsgaard and special guest musician, actor and social activist Harry Belafonte. The segment offers a startling look into one of the nation’s most critiqued military efforts and the mainstream perceptions of Latin America. “The Panama Deception” presents a view of the invasion which widely differs from that portrayed by the U.S. media and exposes how the U.S. government and the mainstream media suppressed information about this foreign policy disaster.

PART 2 (Second Two Hours)
In the second portion of this special, Mark Hertsgaard will host a broadcast of Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure, a documentary detailing 20 bloody years of the U.S. “War on Drugs” in Colombia. The film, which is produced by Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife team Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy, investigates how the U.S. State Department shifted its priorities in Colombia from “counter-narcotics” to “counter-insurgency” and explores what is left of the alleged anti-drug purpose of the U.S. Plan Colombia. Throughout the evening, independent journalist Greg Palast comments on U.S. foreign policy and shows clips from his film, Finding Bolivar's Heir, in which he travels to Venezuela to get beyond the U.S. media image of President Hugo Chavez and to find out why the Bush administration is trying to oust him. He also travels the country for other perspectives by talking to the opposition party and ordinary Venezuelan citizens about life under Chavez.